Politico Partners With Random House for Online ‘Bookshelf’

Politico expanded its presence in the book world Wednesday, announcing the creation of “Politico Bookshelf,” an online bookstore curated by Politico’s editors and operated by Random House.

The site is not a full retail outlet since users cannot buy any books directly, but they can browse titles from a number of publishers and click through to purchase their choices from the likes of Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Apple.

Politico clearly sees this as another opportunity to establish itself as a heavyweight in political journalism, since one of the prominent features displays what Politico reporters and editors are reading as a suggestion.

Throughout this year, the D.C.-focused publication has tried to use its growing readership and the upcoming election to boost its brand, whether by co-hosting a GOP candidates debate or furthering its events business.

Now the site is making a play in publishing. The project is a partnership with Random House, which already joined forces with Politico to publish four upcoming e-books centered around the 2012 elections. The first one, “Playbook 2012: The Right Fights Back,” is due out Nov. 30.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Random House to develop this new marketplace,” John Harris, Politico’s editor-in-chief, said in a statement. “By combining the great minds and writers in political journalism and publishing, we’re able to offer our readers a deeper read into the political subjects that interest them.”

The Bookshelf will offer genres of books Politico readers are most likely to seek out, such as current events, politics, history and biography. Thus far, 2,743 books are available for purchase.